The scream I heard jolted me awake from my sleep and sent me flying out of my bed. My feet carried me as fast as it could towards the direction of the scream, my head foggy yet adrenalin pumping through my veins. Why was Sumaya screaming?
"Dom?!" I heard Sumaya say, the confusion in her voice pretty clear. I paused mid-run and then my head suddenly cleared. Dominic Chase was sleeping in our guest room. The events of the night before came flooding into my mind. I walked up quietly to the open guest room door and stood behind Sumaya who was in her light green scrubs with her purse that lay in a messy puddle at her feet.
"Good morning guys" I said, grabbing Sumaya's shoulder and making her turn around, almost stepping on the half-poured contents of her purse.
Dom had slept in his clothes from the day before and he looked a rumpled mess. He probably flew out of bed like I did because the minute I showed up, he sat back down.
"Hello, Kerry. Organizing sleepovers with your boss now?" Sumaya whispered and I cringed when Dom mumbled, "I can hear you, Sumaya"
"How about breakfast? I'm sure we are all hungry so let me whip up something for us to eat" I suggested and they both gave me weird looks.
I pulled Sumaya out of the room with me, leaving her purse right where it was on the ground. Dom needed a few minutes to himself after such a rude awakening.
We got to the kitchen and I pulled open the fridge and cabinets gathering ingredients and utensils on the kitchen island.
"So?"
"He needed a place to crash. He called me. I helped" I explained simply. I mixed up eggs and vegetables and poured the contents into a cupcake baking tray before sliding it into the oven.
"Why did he call you? Isn't his girlfriend in town?"
"Sumaya, if I had the answers to those questions I'd tell you. I'm just as clueless. I do kind of owe him one since Alexa and I slept over at his place that horrid weekend"
"I know about that. Christopher told me. So you and Dom are kind of close?" She peered at me and I could hear the question she was trying so hard not to ask.
"I am not breaking up his engagement. He and I just talk sometimes"
She heaved a sigh of relief and then decided to help me with breakfast by making yoghurt, pineapple and pawpaw smoothies for us all. She usually had the fruits chopped up and ready for the morning smoothie.
Dom was taking a long time to show up. The omelet muffins, toast, sausages and smoothies were ready. I walked up to the room and knocked on the door.
"Come in" I heard him say.
I walked in to find him still lying in bed, toying with something between his fingers and looking at it, deep in thought. I got closer and noticed it was an engagement ring he was holding.
"Dom, breakfast is ready" I was not sure if he wanted to talk about the elephant in the room.
" I'm not hungry. I'd just wash my face and head to the office, I have a change of clothes there" he said then sat at the edge of the bed.
"You are eating breakfast before you leave. You're not allergic to pineapple or lactose intolerant, or are you? Anyway there is coffee too" I insisted.
He looked up at me and his usually piercing black eyes were dulled by sadness.
I could not keep away anymore. I was pretty familiar with this kind of sadness. I sat next to him and not looking at him asked, "So...last night...the cemetery isn't really a common hangout place"
"I went to see my mum" that's all he said but that did not explain the engagement ring currently in his possession.
"And the elephant in the room?" I quizzed, giving a side long glance to the engagement ring he held lightly in his hand. He followed my gaze and did not look at me, "She broke off the engagement. Her life is in Japan and mine is here. She didn't want to postpone the inevitable"
I didn't say anything, I just placed a hand comfortingly on his back. I felt his body soften to my touch and the once tense spot where my hand was placed was now welcoming my touch.
"Step one. Get out of bed. Step two. Eat breakfast. You'd pick up from there. Little steps" I said finally and beckoned him to follow me which he did to the kitchen.
"Hey Dom. Sorry I screamed like that earlier. I was not expecting to find a man sleeping in my guest room" Sumaya said slowly when she saw us.
"I'm sorry I gave you quite a scare. I almost had a heart attack though. Your scream can wake the dead"
"Yup. Almara just came by to see if everything is okay" Sumaya said then rose from her seat just as we sat down. "I better grab my purse. I have some packing to do. By the way, I called to let Chris know where you are. He wouldn't possibly have guessed you'd be here"
With that she left. I grabbed a plate of food and placed it in front of Dom.
"Smoothie or coffee?"
"Coffee. Not because I'm lactose intolerant or allergic to pineapples" he said with a small smile. I made him a cup and let him put in his own sugar and cream as he preferred.
We sat down to eat in silence and I switched on the TV to morning news. As usual, there was a war going on someplace, some new technology being developed by some company, a politician on trial for some public fund scandal and food aid being sent to a country suffering from some disease epidemic. It was distracting and that was good. At least Dom did not wear that pensive look on his face anymore. He was deeply engrossed in whatever news coverage of a war taking place somewhere.
Fortunately, Dom did not eat slowly so after I had left to take a shower and gotten dressed, I came to find him doing dishes.
"What are you doing?"
"Don't ask stupid questions, Kerry"
"Okay, why are you doing the dishes?"
"Because they were dirty"
"You know what I mean, Dom. Stop. Sumaya wouldn't mind doing the dishes"
"I don't mind doing the dishes"
Okay I hate debating with stubborn people because I can also be pretty stubborn and he was just calmly washing dishes and ignoring my protest.
"Dom, it's weird having my boss do my dishes" I chose a different route.
"But it's okay to organize sleepovers at each other's house?" He smirked.
I laughed. He was quoting Sumaya from before. Nice move. Hey, sometimes you lose. I knew we would go on forever if I kept at it. Besides he looked really hot doing the dishes. I sat back and watched him.
"Thanks for letting me sleep here" he said when he was done.
"You're welcome" I simply replied.
I drove him to work and even when I insisted we do not go in together, he took my car keys out of the ignition and told me not to be silly. I kept a step behind him but he took me by the arm and dragged me till I was in step with him.
"Okay let go of my arm" I told him as we approached the entrance. He released my arm from his grip and chuckled. As we walked in, the receptionist gave us a questioning look before quickly switching to a pleasant look and greeted us heartily. I took my grandmother's advice at this point. Don't make them see you sweat. Plaster on that thin smile, lift your head high and look them directly in the eye to unnerve them instead.
"Why hello, good morning" I said, thin smile, head up and all. She shifted a little in her seat. I kept walking towards the elevators with Dom in tow.
"You showed her" he laughed as the doors closed and I couldn't help but smile.
Dom disappeared into his office when we got to the top floor and my morning went exactly as it usually did. Coordinating calendars with Paba, phoning clients and other related contacts over one thing or the other and meeting with some designers in their design room to almost getting yelled at when relaying information about some changes a client had demanded. I could not hate this job even if I tried.
I slumped into my desk chair around half past noon and massaged my temples.
"Rough morning?" Paba laughed softly.
"You can say that. I swear sometimes these designers want to kill the messenger. I'm only delivering the message and you should hear them talk to me like I'm the client. I really can't blame them. Who the hell decides to change the lining for a sports jacket? Now poor interns are running around the city looking for turquoise lining fabric"
"You have no idea how insufferable some clients are. One man almost cost us a designer once. He changed his mind every two weeks for a 100 shirts order that he wanted delivered in two months. Dom's dad had to call the client and ask him to make up his mind or take his business elsewhere. Even I wanted to tear my hair out"
I grabbed a chocolate bar from my stash of office snacks in my bottom drawer. I had not had time to pack myself lunch today. Usually I had aunt Jamila's leftovers to reheat and packed in Tupperware plastic microwaveable container.
I took a bite out of my chocolate bar when Paba received a call.
"Dom says to meet him in his office. Something about an elephant?" She looked confused even as she uttered the words. I fought my urge to smile and merely nodded. I placed my chocolate bar on my desk and told Paba to help herself to a row or two. She would've anyway without me offering.
I walked into Dom's office and closed the door behind me.
"You called?" I said standing a feet away from his desk. He was staring at whatever was on his laptop screen.
"What are you having for lunch?" He asked, lifting his head to acknowledge my presence.
"Chocolate"
"Chocolate? Did you miss the class on a balanced diet at school?"
"There are theories that-" I started to say before he cut me off.
"And there are theories that contradict those theories you speak of. Anyway, grab your purse you're having lunch with me"
"You really don't have to take me to lunch, Dom"
"I want to"
I knew better so this time I put my foot down, "You washed the dishes. That should count for something. I'm perfectly happy eating chocolate for lunch."
That is how I started keeping my distance from Dom. If what Paba had told me about him was true, he was probably looking for someone help him forget about Aoki. That meant a new addition to that damned list.
Our after work chats were no more because I either pretended to be overwhelmed with paperwork or leave work on time. He kept asking if we were okay anytime we found ourselves in the same room. Like that meeting with the founder of a new private school, Dom had actually cornered me after the meeting to talk to me alone. I had simply told him I was giving him space to deal with his current breakup.
This actually went on much longer than I planned because a month went by. Even the news about his breakup became old news. I was missing him silently but one lesson I was raised to learn was not to commit myself to nor encourage feelings for a man who was not ready to take me seriously. Call that the Effah-Kerington lesson 101.